But let me say with humility, the failure to punish the corrupt is entirely the responsibility of our judicial system. It is our judicial system that failed to punish the corrupt,” he said.

“Corruption cases drag on for 20 or 30 years. You take disciplinary action against a government servant. It takes 10 years by the time you find him guilty and punish him. And finally the court will set it aside on some technical (grounds),” he said.

In an apparent reference to AIADMK chief Jayalalithaa, Chidambaram said a disproportionate assets case against a Chief Minister “is going on since 1997... Unless you punish the guilty there is no point in making new laws.”